The King's Guard, 3rd Company

The service

His Majesty the King's Guard is the King's life guard, an Army battalion based at Huseby leir in Oslo. Among other things, the Guard protects the Royal Palace, Skaugum, Bygdøy Royal Estate and Akershus Fortress, and is part of the capital's readiness force.

The 3rd Company is the Guard's band and drill company, and its best-known unit. It consists of a staff troop, a music troop and a drill troop. The music troop is split into a concert band of around 55 soldiers and a signal corps of around 30. The company performs at the Palace and on 17 May, among other places, and also appears abroad.

My role and assignments

I served in the music troop and played the signal horn.

Among the assignments I took part in were a performance connected to Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee in Windsor, a tour of the Balkans, and military tattoos in Basel and Oslo. I also took part in several assignments for heads of state.

Assignments like these demand thorough preparation, punctuality and teamwork, often in unfamiliar settings with little room for error.

Discipline and order

• The company's motto is "Rhythm, elegance, precision". In a unit that performs for an audience, precision is the product itself.
• When many people are to look and sound like one, there are no small details. Each person must do the same thing, at the same time and in the same way, every time.
• That requires order in everything from uniform and equipment to routines and use of time, turning up prepared, and being able to rely on the people around you.
• The Guard as a whole has the motto "Alt for Kongen!" (Everything for the King), and the service builds on a culture where the standard applies to everyone, all the time.

Links

Forsvaret on the Guard ↗ Store norske leksikon (Norwegian encyclopedia) ↗ 3rd Company Band & Drill ↗